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Product of the Pros: Coupons

Nancy Cook, vice president of new media business development for the coupon provider Valpak, says she doesn’t tend to base her shopping decisions on what she has coupons for. Instead, she looks for coupons for things she plans to buy anyway.

On Sundays, for instance, Ms. Cook scans the coupon section of her local newspaper, looking for and clipping deals on grocery items she plans to buy that week like diapers or soup or cleaning supplies. “I look for specific deals on something that I’m going to go specifically buy,” she said. “The coupons very much have to fit into my lifestyle.”

She stores these coupons, along with other discount coupons and postcards she receives in the mail, in a drawer in her kitchen. Before going on a shopping trip, she said, she’ll grab the coupons from the drawer and stick them in her wallet. Loyalty card coupons she gets at grocery store cash registers also go into her wallet. This way, she remembers to use the coupons.

Ms. Cook, the mother of a 2-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, also tends to shop a lot at stores like the Children’s Place, Toys”R”Us and Bed Bath & Beyond for specific items for her family.

But before she shops at those stores, assuming she doesn’t already have a discount postcard easily accessible in her coupon drawer, Ms. Cook will look at the retailers’ sites, as well as do a quick search at her computer or on her phone, for deals she can use in the stores. And when she’s shopping at the retailers’ e-commerce sites, she’ll also be sure to start at the clearance or sale section of the site. “I tend to be very loyal to certain brands and look for deals with those brands,” she said.

In addition, Ms. Cook stashes Valpak and other coupons in her coupon drawer for services she knows she’s going to have to use soon, like carpet or chimney cleaning (she’s not as loyal to such providers and picks them more based on deals, she said). Meanwhile, when she is looking for somewhere to eat out, she’ll use Valpak’s iPhone app and search engines to search for local restaurants offering deals.

As for daily deal sites, Ms. Cook said that, for her job, she subscribes to Groupon and LivingSocial to understand what they are doing. But she said she only buys deals from those sites for weekend experiences that she would want to do anyway with her family. For instance, she has only bought one Groupon, so far, for a family-friendly restaurant in her area. “Usually, when I’m looking for deals, I’m generally looking for something very specific,” she said.

How do Ms. Cook’s coupon strategies compare with yours? What products and services do you use to find deals and what kind of deals do you look for?

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